Well we leave Queenstown today to head down to Te Aneau and the Fiordlands and we've had a great time here. We stayed three nights which is our longest stay anywhere so far and we definitley
benefited from cutting back on the travelling for a bit. The campsite we are in is in Arrowtown, just outside Queenstown and has great facilities for the kids. We have been finding out a lot about
the Gold mining which was the prevailing industry of this area during the late 1800s and it's a fascinating story of extreme highs (striking it rich) and extreme lows (the incredible hardship the
miners went through in the hope of striking it rich!). In Arrowtown there is an old settlement where many Chinese miners were based and many of the towns in the area are only here orginally due to
the Gold rush. Our big event of the last two days was the White water rafting. It was great to be able to do an experience like that with the whole family (practically all the other activities in
Queenstown are solo or have a high age limit on them). We got a bus up into the hills and Skippers Canyon which is an old mining road built to get to the rich, gold bearing waters, of the Shotover
River. It took 6 years to build and was exteremely hairy to drive along. We then got kitted up with wetsuits and set off with our guide down the river. Meg was quite uncertain at first, but Rosie,
Connie and Isla absolutley loved it. Isla just giggled most of the way down. We got the opportuntiy to do a rock jump which we all did except Meg. Isla managed to miss the first catching point after
the jump and floated off down the river where one of the instructors threw her a line which she caught but was not able to pull herself back to the boat so the instructor jumped in after her. She got
a loud cheer from all the rafters and found the whole experience hilarious (her mother found it slightly less funny to begin with as you can imagine). The rest of the trip was great and we finished
it off with hot dogs and beer back at the base.

Queenstown is unlike any of the other cities or towns in NZ. It is exactly how the guide books decribe it - high adrenaline and the number of different activities you can do is just astounding.
When I win the lottery I shall come here for a whole holiday and do everything - it's my kind of place!